Was
the pope, as Cardinal Ratzinger, as tough as many believe, or was he
operating more at the behest of John Paul than previously recognized?

That's the question of the hour:
how
far the Pope, widely described as a liberal before Vatican II, but
stringently orthodox since, will keep to the conservative strictures
for which he was famous as prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith. His actions will serve as guidance from the Holy
Spirit.

As
this is being mulled, there have been gyrations at both ends of the
spectrum.One
such eruption has occurred in the wake of a reprimand issued by
Benedict XVI on January 12 to a group called the Neocatecumenal Way,
which sits around a table during Mass and partakes of Communion in that
position. The Pope has asked them to alter that practice, conform to
Eucharistic norms, and connect more directly with local church
communities.

In
a
very respectful letter back, leaders of Neocatecumenal Way have defended the unusual practice and may not yet
have changed the way they receive. "Communion continues to be given
seated, as at a banquet," complains a conservative Catholic news site
located in Italy. "This is the upshot of [the] letter that the heads of
the Way have written to Benedict XVI."

While
in that case the Pope appeared to be in line with his tough
conservative reputation, liberals
have spotted what they see as an opportunity in the Pope's recent
encyclical on love and his tolerant approach to dissenting theologian
Hans Kung. "Anxiety about the Pope --- on the right," is the headline
on a recent article by Father Richard P. Mc Brien, a staunch liberal at
the University of Notre Dame.

"From
Rottweiler to
Great Lover," carped a secular publication irreverently.

But as yet
there is
no reason to believe that Pope Benedict will be less conservative than
his mentor, John Paul II. Still, there is a shuffle to gain position --
and what may be a surge in the conflict between liberal and
conservative factions -- while perceptions of Benedict remain in a
formative stage.

The key
worry of
conservatives is over devotional practices. In the Archdiocese of
Detroit is angst over a tightening of protocol for Adoration and
Perpetual Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament -- so tight that there
are fears it will all but strangle such devotion; such already has
occurred in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida.

In other
dioceses
has been a very similar move to restrict the Blessed Sacrament. One in
Upstate New York wanted Adoration only in a single central location. In
other cases, shrines have begun to restrict it, often because there are
not enough adorers and the Blessed Sacrament is not supposed to be left
unattended. In the case of Detroit, round-the-clock Adoration soon may
soon be limited to religious communities (although we are not yet free
to reveal to full details).

Meanwhile,
in
Orange, California, are claims that parishioners have besmirched
authorities in a struggle over liturgical norms. This came to a head
after those disagreeing when parishioners should or should not kneel
were accused by the diocese of spreading false accusations against
priests and the bishop. The jockeying is between authorities and
traditionalists, and the hotspot is a parish in Huntington Beach called
St. Mary by the Sea.

"The
reason for this
is that all the current liturgical norms of the Diocese and of the U.S.
are officially recognized and allowed by Rome," states a recent copy of
the parish bulletin. "Furthermore, [a local priest] was allowed only to
have the Tridentine Mass here at St. Mary's with its own norms:
Communion by tongue, with one species, no sign of peace, kneeling after
Agnus Dei Lamb of God... that some parishioners here name
that 'traditions' of St. Mary's. Besides, [the priest] allowed other
liturgical practice/norms belonging to the Tridentine Mass to be
applied to other Masses of Vatican II, including the Novus Ordo Mass:
that is not correct."

"For this
reason, if
you are forgetful in obeying these norms, it is tolerable," warned the
bulletin. "But if you intentionally oppose these liturgical norms,
particularly by not standing after the 'Lamb of God' and at the 'Final
Blessing,' either as individuals or as a group, it is totally wrong and
a serious matter/sin: intentional disobedience not simply to the local
Bishop, but also to Rome, and ultimately to God."

The blogs have complained loudly at the
actions. At least one parishioner has been asked to leave the church --
and the diocese.

This is
simply to
report on trends at the same time that we urge obedience. In no case
should a bishop be disobeyed. In most cases, actions are taken only
after long and often tortuous deliberation.

Last week,
the hot
button issue was a priest who is especially well-known in parts of the
Midwest, where his strongly orthodox views were often broadcast over a
network of stations called Relevant Radio and also on a weekly radio
program, "As the Spirit Leads," in Philadelphia. A website, "A Voice in the
Desert," operated by
parishioners,
placed his homilies -- rich in traditional viewpoints, as well as
prophetic interpretations -- on the internet.

But
Archbishop Harry
J. Flynn of Minneapolis has halted his radio and internet presence [see
homilies],limiting him to
the
vastly smaller audience of local Mass-goers at the Church of St. Agnes
in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Father Altier tends to the six a.m. Mass [see
article]

It remains
unclear
exactly why Father Altier was removed. Neither the archbishop nor the
priest has released the letter. There is no reason to believe that the
action pertains to any issue of abuse, which has led to so many other
actions. But there are times when the priest has openly criticized
bishops and he has been especially opposed to a sex-education program
okayed by Catholic authorities.

In a
statement
issued to Spirit Daily, the priest writes: "Praised be Jesus
Christ! The people who take care of the Desert Voice website informed
me of your interest in the case in which I am involved with Archbishop
Flynn. It is certainly fine with me if you want to write something
about it, but there really does not seem to be much of a story, on the
surface, to write. The fact that this thing has taken on a life of
its own with no help from anyone in particular should tell you that it
is really not about me at all. Rather, it is about something much
larger than me.

"Beyond
that, I really do not have much to say other than what was said of the
Apostles 2000 years ago, i.e., that they rejoiced that they were
counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name [Acts 5:41]. All
of this is part of God’s loving providence and He will bring about a
greater good from this than any of us can ask or imagine. Can you
think of a better way to live out the Lenten observance?

"Regarding
the letter from the Archbishop, I will not release it to anyone. This
is done solely out of respect for the Archbishop. He did not
request that I not release the letter; it is my decision to act in this
manner out of respect for his Excellency.

"The
Archbishop acted within the bounds of his jurisdictional rights (canon
831 §2) and I simply have to obey. The rest is up to our Lord and Our
Lady. It is so wonderful because I am at peace and filled with joy
knowing that through obedience I am doing the will of God.

"Who
could ask for anything more in this world than to know with certainty
the will of God for you at any given moment and to be able to live it
out in peace and joy? The whole thing is a pure gift from God.
This is my take on the whole situation, but as I mentioned above, this
cannot possibly be about me. I am merely an instrument that God is
using for a much larger purpose. So, if you want to write an article,
you really do need to look at what God is doing here."

We'll
let the Holy Spirit do that; we'll urge obedience (above sacrifice);
and we'll leave it to your own discernment.

The case
once more
points up the increasingly open face-off between liberals and
conservatives, as well as conservatives and ecclesiastic authorities.
The time has come to wait for further Vatican guidance and patiently
listen to each other, avoiding disunity. Inquiries have been made for
more information, if prudent, from the archdiocese.

Meanwhile,
e-mails
generated by the situation have been as fierce as they have been
numerous. While most have supported the priest, a number have attacked
him.

"Please do
not
divide the people of God further by presenting only one side of this
story," said one. "Archbishop Harry Flynn has respected the seal of
this private matter and has not made public his reasons in
respect of Father Altier's privacy. I read your page every
day and know you will present a fair picture of what is happening, yet
this is impossible for you to do without all the facts."

Indeed,
facts behind
the action remain scarce. But Archdiocesan spokesman, Dennis McGrath
confirmed to Lifesite Newsthat
the silencing is not for any impropriety. “Father Altier is an honored
priest, and has not committed any improprieties.” McGrath added that
Archbishop Flynn will not discuss the issue publicly because it is a
“personnel matter, but I surmise that Father Altier's contrarian
position on Virtus [the sex-education plan] is the issue.”

"Believe
me, there
is ample reason for what the Archbishop is doing and I doubt
disobedience is ever really a good thing in relation to the Church,"
wrote another e-mailer.

"It may
well be that
Bishop Flynn agrees with some of what this priest has been saying, but
maybe does not agree with the way that it is being said," added
Randal S. Coleman of Lafayette, Louisiana. "There may be reasons which
he is not willing to state out of charity and matters of
confidentiality. All-in-all, I was disappointed in the way
that Bishop Flynn was portrayed. It is important to often
recognize that there are many, many bishops who are carrying tremendous
burdens, with great love, in silence, all for the glory of God in the
service of His Church."

Previously,
Archbishop Flynn was in the news in December 2004 when he said that he
had Vatican approval to welcome a homosexual activist group called
"Rainbow Sash" to receive Communion in St. Paul Cathedral during their
protests against Church teaching on homosexuality. Archbishop Flynn was
included in a list of prelates who were personally thanked by the
Rainbow Sash movement. Father Altier has been outspoken against
homosexuals, including those in his own diocese.

But,
again: exactly what has occurred will not be known until there is
official comment or one of the parties releases the letter. For now --
as with the other controversies -- it is best placed on a shelf while
we listen to the Vatican and pay closest attention during Lent not to
legalisms and disputes but to our own spirituality.

03/07/06

Bishop Halts Homilies By
Midwest Priest With Strong Contentions, Following

Father
Altier is a
rare one indeed, at 45 a relatively young priest who unabashedly speaks
strong stuff -- including prophetic stuff, and including exposes of
alleged wrongdoing -- from the pulpit. As it was, he had been
relegated, at the Church of St. Agnes, in
the city of St. Paul, to the 6:30 a.m. Mass (although the church's
website disseminated his homilies).

On
weekdays, it has
been the six a.m. shift -- a Mass that regularly attracts between 75
and a hundred despite the early hour. Some of his homilies, including a
recent one, have been
surprisingly
open in their criticism of bishops.

He may be
a bit
strong, and naturally we're not sure of all his views (we all have
different ideas), but so popular and unusual have been his homilies
that for a while now they have been disseminated over the internet via
his own website, called "A Voice in the Desert."
That website has now announced the bishop's closure.

"In
obedient
compliance with the expressed written request of Most Reverend Harry J.
Flynn, Archbishop
of the
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA [left],
Father Altier’s homilies and spiritual presentations can no longer be
published on www.desertvoice.org or broadcast on Relevant Radio," says the
website. "Please be assured that this action of the archbishop is not
related to any scandal or sexual misconduct on the part of Father
Robert Altier. We regret any inconvenience and humbly ask for your
prayers."

Father
Altier has
expressed a number of views that some in mainstream Catholicism
consider strong and controversial. We have contacted the diocese for
comment.

"They say
you can't
preach like that because the collection will go down," said Father
Altier, who is a third-order Carmelite and who before becoming a
priest, at age 28, had attained a degree in computer programming.

But his
"tell-it-like-he-sees-it" approach, he says, has not hurt.
"Parishioners seem to be fine with it, but I'm not sure other priests
like it," he told Spirit Daily a while ago. "Priests are into
materialism and worldliness. And if you want the material, you can't
have the spiritual. Priests have gotten into a lot of worldliness."

As a local newspaper notes, Altier is a prominent
voice in conservative Catholic circles and has spoken out against a
sex-abuse prevention program being taught throughout the archdiocese,
including to schoolchildren. He says the program is too explicit. Such
programs were mandated in all dioceses by U.S. bishops as part of their
response to the clergy abuse crisis.

It is
Father
Alitier's contention that there is a simple and real truth behind
scandal. "I got sick and tired of all the lies. I just laid it out.
There are three groups that have infiltrated the Church, the Masons,
the Communists, and the homosexuals, who came in 1924," he alleges. "85
percent of all the abuse cases are homosexual. There is rank
homosexuality. Homosexuals chose the best and brightest and best
looking and put them into the priesthood."

As for our
times,
Father Altier views it as relating to the Gospel reading on cleaning
the temple -- but this time with the Blessed Mother, who will "clean it
like a woman, not like Jesus did (when He threw out the merchants); she
is being more deliberate and every nook and cranny will be cleansed,"
he says insightfully. "When it is done, it will "not be pretty but it
will be immaculate.

"I have
been
speaking about this since the early 1980s, but after 9/11, I said, 'Now
the birth pangs have begun.'"

They are
like labor
pains that will get closer together and more intense, contends the
priest, who spends hours each day in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Why is he
controversial? And why do people -- including many priests -- reject
the idea of purification?

"I think
because
people don't want to deal with sin," he says. "The loss of the sense of
sin is one of the great tragedies of our time. They don't want to deal
with the idea that God would allow any kind of purification. We focus
on His mercy so much that we forget His justice. The devil is resisting
the idea of chastisement. If we can explain it scientifically, it
denies the spirituality of an event, and what the devil desires most is
to remain hidden. Certainly he is going to be involved in some of these
things, whether directly or from chaos at spiritual level. He is
inspiring chaos at spiritual level.

"And some
of it --
wars as well as storms -- we are doing to ourselves. Nature reflects
the chaos in the spiritual order. You see that right from the Garden of
Eden. There was peace until they sinned, and that continues. The chaos
that we see -- the storms and tsunamis -- continue to get more intense
and closer together and it is because sin is getting worse. We can't
keep killing babies and violating human dignity and think that nothing
is going to happen to us. We're doing it to ourselves. It's a natural
consequence of what we're doing."

These
days, when it
comes to Christianity, he says, "we only want the parts we like."

The priest
has also
harped on the need for deliverance.

"I did an awful lot of deliverance work,
and the
bishop shut it down," claimed Father Altier. "He said he didn't want
any priest in his diocese doing this."

The following e-mail was
sent to viewer Mary Grace Westman, who inquired as to why a Minnesota
priest, Father Robert Altier, was no longer allowed to conduct a radio
and internet ministry. The move by Archbishop Harry Flynn caused a
heated controversy two weeks ago, for Father Altier had a significant
following in conservative and Marian circles. The archbishop's
explanation:

Third
story

To interested party

Thank you for your recent note. I
appreciate
that you have benefited spiritually from Fr. Altier’s homilies. He has
done much good work and is not being “silenced.”

Fr. Robert
Altier is
a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in good
standing. He wrote to ask me for permission to extend his radio
ministry. I reviewed the situation and discerned that a break from his
multi-media apostolates might be beneficial to him and to the parish of
Saint Agnes. His primary responsibility has been and continues to be as
assistant to the pastor there in ministering to the parishioners. The
specific reasons for this decision are within the context of a bishop’s
relationship with his priests. It would be most inappropriate to
discuss them with others.

Many
people have
leaped to inaccurate and unkind conclusions. They do a disservice to
Fr. Altier and to me. I pray that Lent will be a time for them to
examine their consciences and grow in charity. They would be
well-advised to listen to or read some homilies about the perils of
rashly judging others and about the respect owed to the successors of
the apostles.

Some
people have
mentioned concerns with regard to the “safe environment” programs for
children. Let me assure you that pastors in this Archdiocese have a
number of options from which to choose and that parents always retain
the right to withhold their children from any program to which they
object.

I hope
that you may
avail yourself of some of the other good spiritual resources on the
radio, Internet or in good, old-fashioned books. I personally enjoy the
insights of the periodical missal Magnificat. You are also free to
visit Saint Agnes where Fr. Altier continues to actively minister.

With every
good wish, I remainSincerely yours in Christ,Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn, D. D.Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

03/21/06

originally published as altierbishopresponse

Fourth story

Outspoken Priest Taken
Off Internet Is Sent To Nursing Home As Ass't Chaplain

Sometimes, we get confused. Such was the
case
the other day when we were informed that Father Robert Altier, a
well-known priest in St. Paul, Minnesota, was being assigned (he is 45)
to a nursing home.

The priest
was the
subject of recent controversy when his prelate, Archbishop Harry J.
Flynn [left], ordered him to stop broadcasting over a Catholic
radio network called Relevant Radio (based largely in the upper
Midwest) and to cease activity on a website that propagated his
homilies -- many of which were staunch conservative ones and some of
which were critical of bishops and especially what he sees as rampant
homosexuality in the priesthood, including the St. Paul-Minnesota
archdiocese.

We're not
sure because
Father Altier does not comment on that publicly. He has commented
publicly on a sex-education program that he felt was unfit for
children, and this is what seemed to spark the latest controversy.
Currently an associate pastor at St. Agnes Church in St. Paul, he will
now head to Regina Medical Center in Hastings as an assistant chaplain
(meaning he will no longer be a regular daily Mass celebrant in
public). While at St. Agnes, Father Altier's Masses -- relegated to the
early hours of morning -- were unusually well-attended. He was viewed
as a staunch conservative.

From those
Masses came
homilies that were distributed via the internet. There will be no more
such homilies.

While Dennis
McGrath,
official spokesman for the archdiocese, told Spirit Daily that
Father Altier allegedly was happy with the reassignment and in fact had
requested it, Father Altier [left] said only, "I am just being
obedient to the bishop. This is what he requested. This is what he
asked me to do." He withheld further comment. The priest has declined
suggestions to leave the diocese.

The
sex-education
program is known as "Virtus" and is related to a program called Talking
About Touching, designed in response to the sex-abuse scandal.
"Unfortunately," says the
website dedicated to Father Altier, "these graphic sex-ed
programs are in direct violation of Vatican teachings on human
sexuality and do nothing to stop predators but instead place the burden
of protection on young children themselves." This is apparently Father
Altier's viewpoint.

The new
assignment,
which will last for three years, will allow him tremendous free time,
he said, during which he plans to read, write, and exercise. There are
few duties accorded an assistant chaplain. "I've been too busy the past
few years to exercise and I've put on some pounds that I may be able to
take off now," he said. "There's a 'Y' below the nursing center."